Ablaze
by STR8BKCHICK
Summary: *Updated* Fast 8 Rewrite Co-Authored with MmmSuite -We are in the black theater of nonexistence. In an eye blink the curtain is up, the stage ablaze, for the vast drama of ourselves. Herman Wouk


_Interlude_

Life was damn good.

Better than that, actually, and the desire to get back to her husband in that room in the villa he'd bought her as a wedding gift made her want to quicken her pace.

But she owed it to herself to stop and smell the roses because at the very least she'd earned that. If she'd learned anything over the years, it was that Dom was going to be there waiting, no matter what.

She continued her walk through the quiet Cuban streets holding the pastries from their favorite cafe and smirked.

She'd attempted to make the trip earlier that morning, but Dom hadn't let her out of bed until he'd had his way with her, and he'd taken his sweet, passionate time.

She'd run out when he'd hopped into the shower and planned on initiating her own round of lovemaking after they'd both had something to eat.

She'd learned yesterday morning that when she mentioned eating in the morning to Dom, she had to be very specific or he used his imagination. Was she really smiling like the teenager that had first fallen for this man?

She walked up the road towards her front door and noticed a woman struggling with the engine under her hood.

"You look like you could use a hand." She called out causing the woman to turn and look at her.

"That obvious?" She smiled almost embarrassingly, "Yea, that would be great." She responded as Letty walked up and set her bag on the roof of the truck.

"So what brings you to Cuba?" Letty asked, checking the usual things as she moved around the engine.

"Work." Cipher replied as Letty continued to triage the problem.

The conversation continued with small talk about mundane things.

Cafes

Coffee

Tourism

If Letty was honest, she could give a shit about anything Cipher was chatting her up about.

She was concentrated mostly on figuring out if she could fix this in 5 minutes or if she'd refer her to the Toretto family shop and get back to her man.

She snapped her eyes to the carburetor and paused, tilting her head in question at what she saw there.

"You enjoying your honeymoon, Letty?" The woman suddenly changed subjects, snapping Letty from her thoughts and causing her hands to freeze as a realization formed. "I mean it must be especially enjoyable with your memory back and all."

Letty didn't look up at her right away, her body suddenly becoming poised for an attack or onslaught of some sort.

"Your distributor cap is loose." Letty deadpanned as she realized something this rookie was intentional.

This was a setup.

And the last thing Letty had time for was bullshit.

"I know." Cipher offered as Letty grabbed a towel and wiped her hands slowly, trying to hone in on her surroundings.

"What do you want?" She asked, grabbing her bag off the roof, preparing to continue her mission home to fuck her husband's brains out.

"I want you to work for me." Cipher said seriously, causing Letty to roll her eyes.

"No thank you. I don't work for anyone." She shrugged, turning on her heels.

"Oh, that's about to change, Leticia Ortiz. As a matter of fact, you're going to beg to work for me."

Letty took a predatory step towards her, tilting her head. She didn't like the threat in the other woman's voice.

"It's Toretto." She corrected slowly, "And I don't even beg my pardon. I don't know what you think you have that would interest me, but, really, no thanks."

She turned to walk away and Cipher called after her.

"Why don't you take a look at this." Cipher prompted, handing her a cell phone when Letty turned again to face the other woman. "I know you thought your memory was back, but what if I told you that wasn't entirely true? You've all been busy, Letty. I guess nobody ever took a minute to see just what _you_ were up to. And it's a real shame I got my hands on this before your fickle mind reminded you."

Letty looked at the phone and her heart stopped.

She would never!

"What's this supposed to mean?" She snorted as Cipher grabbed the phone back, flipping the screen to a video clip.

"Your team is about to go up against the only thing they can't handle, Letty." Cipher began.

"And what's that?" Letty asked, confusion swarming her as she began back tracking through her memories, trying to find a flash or something to match the image. She'd surely remember that!

"You." Cipher revealed as Letty stood in shock.

"If you're goal in these lies is to get me to agree to join your team, I'll admit I'm flattered that you've been jocking my style but, my husband is really the one that leads the crew." Even as she spoke, Letty could hear that her heart wasn't in the quip.

"I know that Letty. But you lead Dom. I'm sure the the world knows that by now." Cipher continued, with a look a amusement plastered on her face.

"We ain't interested." Letty finished, clenching her fists at her side.

"We've all crossed paths before, Letty. Your husband took out two of my teams. So I had to ask myself: What's the easiest way to disjoint a predator?" She asked rhetorically, "Blind it with what it loves the most and pull its heart right out of its chest. By the time you pull the wool away, its gasping and taking its last breaths." Cipher said with venom dripping before she handed the phone back to Letty, pressing play with a devilish smirk.

Letty's heart pounded out of her chest.

There was no way she'd do that.

No way in hell.

But here was the proof, in video and sound and she felt bile rise in her throat.

"You posses the knowledge to stay one step ahead of Dominic Toretto and get me what I want. You've been riding with him the longest. Nobody knows his style like you. That solves the unfortunate problem my other teams couldn't seem to overcome. Now using you to get it done is my personal 'fuck you' to sever the head of the most elite team to ever walk on the wild side. _You_ are his Achilles heel." Cipher smiled. "And now you work for me."

Letty felt dizzy and the information hitting her from all angles did little to stifle the fury threatening to blow.

She was going to kill this woman.

"So this is the place where you want to beg me Letty," Cipher's words cut her thoughts, " But l'll help you out and ask 'Shall we begin?' "

Letty's eyes watered as her hands began to shake, her entire body feeling wrought with rage.

She had no choice. That was evident.

If what Cipher had shown her was real, she was in a lot of trouble.

What in the hell was she walking into?


End file.
